US stock market opens higher as oil prices soar

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened with gains on Wednesday as oil prices increased with hopes that OPEC is near to a production cut.

The Dow added 72 points to reach 19,194 points at the opening. The S&P 500 was up six points to reach 2,211 points and the Nasdaq increased five points to come to 5,385 points.

Expectations of an OPEC output cut in the global oil market and among investors increased after reports from Vienna that the cartel is close to reaching a deal to curb its output -- its first major attempt since mid-2014 to trim the global oversupply that has been dragging the prices down.

With rising expectations, oil prices jumped nearly 7 percent.

At the first bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $48.28 a barrel with a 6.7 percent increase, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $50.67 a barrel -- a 6.9 percent gain.